Ball projector



F. BLANDO.

BALL PROJECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.20, 1921.

. Patented. June 13, 1922.

FRANK BLAlIDO, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BALL PROJECTOR.

Application filed September 20, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK BLANDO, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball Projectors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to toy ball projcctors, shooters or throwers, and has for its object to provide a device of this kind which is simple in construction, easy to operate and by which the ball may be deflected upwardly as it leaves the projector.

The invention also contemplates the provision of a ball-deflecting piece on the projector, said piece being detachably secured in place so that it may be removed when it is desired to project the ball straight ahead without the upward pitch. Other objects will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention will be first hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which constitute part of this specification, and then more specifically defined in the claims at the end of the description.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure 1 is a perspective View of a ball projector constructed substantially in accordance with this invention, the withdrawn position of the ball-propelling slide being indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is an under plan view of the device, and

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the same.

The device illustrated consists of a base plate 1 having a depending handle 2 near its front end and a longitudinal slot 3 extending a considerable distance centrally of its rear end portion. In fact, said slot 3 may extend substantially the full length of the base plate 1, if desired, just so there is sufficient space left in advance of its front end to support the ball 4 to be thrown or projected.

A ball-projecting slide 5 is guided in said slot 3 by a block 6 fitting loosely therein, and has a rearwardly extending handle portion 7 reaching beyond the rear end of the base plate where it can be conveniently grasped Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1922.

Serial No. 501,901.

by one hand of the operator while the other hand grips the handle 2. The block 6 may be retained in the slot 3 in any suitable manner, as by the transversely extending headed pin 8 shown in Figure 2, and said block is connected at 9 to the rear end of a coiled spring 10 arranged in a housing 11 on the under face of the base plate and having its front end secured at 12 to the upper end of the handle 2 or in any other suitable manner to said base plate, whereby the spring tends to hold the block 6 at the front end of the slot 3.

The slide 5 on top of the base plate is provided at its front end with an enlarged grooved head 13 to which is preferably secured a channeled plate 14 forming a ballholding pocket adapted to guide the ball 4 along the central portion of the base plate as it is being projected. To the front end portion of the base plate a deflecting piece 15 is detachably fastened, as by screws 16 extending upward through said plate, as shown Figures 2 and 3. The upper face of said deflecting piece may be arranged at any desired angle to the plane of the top of the base plate in order to give the ball various pitches or deflections as it is projected so as to make it carry farther. When the dcflecting piece is removed, the ball may be projected straight ahead off of the base plate which may, of course, be held at any desired angle with its front end uppermost when the device is being manipulated.

In operation, when the handle 2 is gripped by one hand of the operator and the handle 7 gripped by the other hand, the slide 5 may be drawn backward along the base plate against the tension of the spring 10. The ball 4 is previously placed on the front end portion of the base plate in advance of the channeled plate i l and in rear of the defleeting piece 15, as shown in solid lines in Figure 1, and as the slide is drawn back, see dotted lines in the same figure, the ball follows said channeled plate because of the inclination of the base plate. When the slide has thus been drawn back the desired dis tance along the slot 3, depending on the distance the ball is to be projected, the handle 7 on the slide is released, whereupon the spring 10 moves said. slide quickly forward along the base plate and projects the ball 4 from the front end thereof, the direction the ball takes being controlled by the presence or absence of the deflecting piece 15 over Which said ball must pass when it is in position.

1 claim:

1. In a ball projector, the combination With a base plate, oi a slide mounted thereon, resilient means for moving said slide along the base plate, and a deflecting piece 011 the base plate in the path of a ball projected by said slide -for the purpose specified.

2. In a ball projector, the combination With a base plate, of a slide mounted thereon, resilient means for moving said slide along the base plate for projecting a ball, and a deflecting piece detachably fastened to the base plate in the path of the ball for the purpose specified.

3. In a ball projector, the combination with a base plate having a longitudinal slot therein, of a slide guided in said slot, a spring arranged on the under face of the base plate for moving the slide in one direction for projecting a ball, a housing for said spring secured to the under face of the base plate, a handle on the base plate, and a handle on the slide for the purpose specified.

In a ball projector, the combination with a base plate, of a slide mounted. there on, resilient means tor moving said slide in one direction for projecting a ball, a handle on the base plate, a handle on the slide, and a grooved head on the slide for centering the ball on the base plate as it is projected.

5. In a ball projector, the combination with a base plate, of a slide mounted thereon, a handle depending from the front end portion of said base plate, a handle on the slide, and a spring connected. at one end of the slide and at the other end to said depending handle for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK BLANDO. 

